This Is For Keeps
by Reku14
Summary: Tifa's life sucks with her abusive father and her mother nowhere to be found, but will a certain blond companion change her view on Life and Love...?
1. Call Out To My Readers

Okay guys this is the gist. I'm more than willing to write more of _This Is For Keeps_.

BUUTTTTT first I must get at least 3 reviews on this. Soooooo come on guys!


	2. The One Shot

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE STORY

I have decided to keep going with this so skip if you don't want some parts ruined.

So this was meant to be a one shot but I can keep it going if anyone thinks I should. So yeah :] read and enjoy!

Tifa walked along the sidewalk. Fog was hanging in the air making everything slightly wet. She pushed back a strand of hair as she unlocked the door to her home. Ha. Home. More like hell. She hoped her father was still sleeping she thought as she closed the door quietly. It made the slightest "click"

"Tifa! Is that you! Get your no good ass in here!" her father yelled from the living room. Crap! She thought and dumped her school bag on the ground walking into the living room. She had been out late walking around enjoying her free time.

"You're ten minutes late! Where were you! Whoring around like your no good mother I bet!" he said from the couch and took a swig of beer. He was drunk. He made it to at least 8 today. Go him.

"I was getting something..." she mumbled

"Yeah getting some dick from that blond bastard" he sneered. That hit a nerve. And he knew it

"Cloud is not a bastard!" she yelled. Nor would he ever want me in such a way... She thought

"Don't raise your voice at me!" he cried and threw the beer bottle at her. She dodged it and it hit the wall

" Don't avoid punishment either bitch!" this got him off the couch and after her. She turned to run but he grabbed a handful of her long brown hair. Dragging her backwards she hit the floor. She kicked him in the knee and turned to crawl away. He grabbed her ankle and threw her on the couch

"Go away you damn brute!" she screamed. He punched her in the face

And she rolled off the couch and took off running. She ran out the door and to the only safe place she knew

Cloud's house

She climbed the tree to his room and knocked the glass. First making sure that her hair covered her cheek. She could feel her cheek throb in pain. Cloud opened the window smiling and she climbed in.

"Hey Tif, what's up?" he said

"Oh nothing really. Just got bored and decided to drop by" she said and sat on his bed. He sat next to her

"What happened to your arms they're all red?"

"Ummm I don't know probably from climbing the tree"

"Bull. You've done that a million times. Why are you hiding your face?"

She turned away but he turned her face to his. He gently tucked her hair behind her ear revealing her bruising growled

"I'm going to kill him"

" No cloud…it's okay. I'm fine"

"No you're not! Look at what he did to you!" cloud was yelling

" It's not like it's the first time…" she mumbled. Cloud never acted this way. He turned towards her kneeling in front of her.

"And this will be the last time. I swear it"

She looked into his blue eyes wondering where all of this came from

" Tifa…I love you. I want to protect you. You are the only thing that matters to me. I can be your Jack if you will be my Rose"

She smirked he knew Titanic was one of her favorite movies

"Really?" this was too good to be true. No one as perfect as Cloud would ever want someone as damaged as her

"Yes Tifa." he said

"But I'm so damaged…and quiet and troublesome and ugly and-"

Cloud cut her off putting a finger to her lips

"You are not ugly. Nor are you any of those other things" he said sternly

Then he kissed her

Those perfect lips.

His beautiful eyes…

He was all she wanted, and somehow he felt the same for her

Maybe love did exist…


	3. The Beggining!

Well that was fast! And well…2 reviews is good enough for me lmao

Thanks to dannielovessora

And

cutegixie

I'll be writing this! But the first one was meant as a one shot so, we're going to follow up to that and then continue on from there! I'm going to try to keep writing in 3rd person but I'm not the best at it, so I might just change it to 1st soon.

….tried…hated it….

I walked into my new school building with my head down. It was the middle of first semester and I just moved here. –bleck….all the cliques have been made…I'm an outsider…again and I don't even have Squall to talk to…- I looked around feeling my nervousness increase. This place was nothing like Kalm. I bit my lip as a group of loud girls bumped into me and hit my arm. –please just let me find the office- I prayed. I looked up again searching. AHA! There it is! I made a bee-line towards it and went in. There weren't many people in there so I felt more at ease. I walked up to the desk where a plump middle aged lady sat typing away at her keyboard.

"Hello, my name is Tifa Lockhart. I just transferred in from Kalm…they told me to get my schedule here" I said nervously

"Oh yes! Tifa dear, what a pretty name and such a pretty face! Welcome to Midgar!" she said smiling up at me. I blushed and mumbled thanks. She smiled at me and typed away at her computer.

"Tifa Lockhart…Tamara, Tella, Tifa! Let me print this out for you dear" she said and went to the printer. She reminded me of those grandma's you see on TV, all sugar and cookies. She walked back paper in hand.

"Here is your schedule dear, your teachers sign off on it today and you bring it back to me at the end of the day okay?" she looked around, "Yuffie! Would you be a doll and show Tifa around school? She's new here"

A girl a couple feet shorter than me turned around. She had short black hair and wore short khaki shorts and a green shirt.

"Yes ma'am! Yuffie princess of the Wutai is ready for duty!" she said saluting the lady. I hid a smile behind my hair. She seems fun. She walked up to me sticking her hand out. I shook it and she smiled.

"Strong hand shake. Good I hate girly girls. My name is Yuffie. What's your name?"

"Tifa. Tifa Lockhart. I just moved here from Kalm."

"Okay well let's see your schedule." She said and took it from my hands, "Well Tifa looks like we have 6 out of all 8 classes together!" she said smiling. We left the office and headed to first class.

"History with Highwind. He's crazy but fun. Always talking about going up into space. I couldn't though, I'd get too sick" she said keeping up the chatter. I smiled and continued the conversation until we got to class.

"Well hello there! New student? Tifa right?" he said looking at me, "you can sit next to Cloud over there. He's the kid with the crazy hair"

I looked in the direction he was pointing and smiled. He did have crazy hair. He was cute though. Yuffie sat in her seat and I moved over next to Cloud.

"Hello" he said politely smiling faintly.

"Hiya!" I replied  
"Tifa ay? Unique name. I like it"

"Yeah my mother chose it" I looked down at the mention of my mother…where is she…

"Well my mother had a thing for the sky. Hence Cloud" he said smiling. I giggled. Maybe this place wasn't going to be so bad after all.

All right, in my opinion that was a short chapter. Butttt I have some homework to do and I REALLY wanted to get this up today. I might not be able to update till Friday but I will definitely have something up by the end of Friday.

That's my birthday by the waaayyyyy~ :D


	4. New Friends And New Enemies

:D Thank ya Cloud Zin! And yes that's exactly what I'm doing ^.^ it's not too confusing is it?

…..

ANYWAAAAAAY here yu guys go!

The lunch bell rang and I was having a GREAT day. I made two good friends Cloud and Yuffie and met a few other people too. Reno, Rude, Aerith, Vincent and others. They seemed to be the more laid back people in the school. I had seen everyone else though…seemed like bitches.

"Move newbie" a snarky voice said pushing me. I turned around and glared. There stood a girl. She had wavy nearly pink hair and clear blue eyes. "My name is Lightening and just to let you know I run this place. Stay in your place and you won't have any problems." She said and stalked off. I rolled my eyes and continued on my way to the table everyone was sitting at.

"I see you just had your first run in with the ever so sweet Lightening." Cloud commented smirking. I rolled my eyes but smiled.

"She's crazy yo! Scares me! One time I was in the hall way right and I bumped into her and she threatened to castrate me yo!" Reno said animatedly. He was flailing his arms about his eyes all wide. His friend Rude smirked and shook his head.

"She isn't the nicest person…but I'm sure she has a reason" Aerith commented while eating a carrot. She was the peace-maker in this group as I had noticed.

"Well she's no match for the Wutai!" Yuffie exclaimed climbing onto the table. I laughed at her mention of the imaginary clan. Vincent sat there in his usual silence but he had the slightest hint of a smile on his face. I smiled to myself as I listened to my new-found friends talk. Things were really seemed like they were going to be looking up…aside from my dad…I was shaken from my thoughts by Cloud.

"Hey do you want to go to this party tonight with us? It's at our friend Zack's house." He asked smiling. I nodded enthusiastically earning a laugh from him. The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and a Yuffie whirl wind swooped by and dragged me off.

"Tonight. You. My house. Getting ready for the party. 5" she said and walked away to her class. I giggled to myself and headed off to my own class. Yuffie had shown me how to get there before and it was the only class I had knew no one in. I walked in shyly taking a seat and got out my notebook.

"I _know_ the newbie isn't sitting in _my_ seat!"

Oh lord…

"Get up." Lightening said glaring at me. I stared up at her debating.

"No." I simply stated and turned back towards the front of the room.

"Excuse me?" she said looking appalled. I just ignored her. She looked as if she was about to start trouble when the final bell rang.

"Everyone take your seats." Mr. Tseng addressed the class. Lightening hesitated but went to find another seat.

"This isn't over." She whispered to me angrily. I continued to ignore her and take notes for class. Not long later the bell rang and I gathered my things. I expected Lightening to say something but she didn't. The rest of the day went without issue and before I knew it, it was time to go home.

"Still coming tonight?" Cloud asked walking next to me. I nodded smiling, "Good"

He headed off to his car as Yuffie came running up to me.

"Remember 5 o'clock. I live on Loveless Lane first house on the corner." She told me smiling.

"Got it. I'll definitely be there"

"Great! Well I got to go I'll see you later!" she called and ran off. I nodded and continued walking. I didn't have a car so I had to walk it was okay though it wasn't too far. I felt panic rise in my chest as I neared my new house. Was he awake? Was he angry? Did he forget I had school? A million questions ran through my mind and before I knew it I was at my steps. Taking a deep breath I quietly opened the door and stepped inside. It was quiet…maybe he wasn't home…I walked forward ready to dash up the stairs when he appeared.

"Find any new guys to fuck, whore?"

I cringed…that voice…so full of hate…I slowly lifted my head up to look at him. He was standing by the stair case tall vengeful and angry…

"Answer me when I talk to you whore!" he demanded stepping towards me. I flinched and looked for a way to escape.

"Oooooh now you want to run don't you!" he took three short strides toward me and punched me in the gut. I gasped falling over and the contents of my back pack spilled across the floor.

"Making messes!" he yelled and kicked me in the side, I cried out in pain. Something must have pissed him off today because usually he waits to attack…but I knew this mood. It was better to just curl up and take it. Which is what I did. He called me a whore, a slut, worthless trash as he kicked and punched me. I held back tears knowing it would end soon. He made sure to avoid my face but the rest of my body was going to be covered in bruises later. Five minutes later he stopped.

"Worthless slut" he muttered walking away. I lay there for awhile trying to wait out the pain…I got up and gathered my things slowly walking up the stairs. I dropped my things on the ground and sat on my bed. Why…what did I do? I always tried to please him but it always came to this…I felt tears welling up in my eyes and blinked them back. I had no time for them. Slowly gathering some new clothes I hobbled to my bathroom. I turned the water on super hot and waited for the tub to fill. I pulled off my shirt to analyze the damage. Giant purple spots were all ready appearing everywhere. My skin looked more purple than white. I sighed and finished undressing and hopped in the tub. Relaxing, I remained there for another half hour. I checked my phone and saw it was 4:30, I needed to meet Yuffie in a half hour and it was a fifteen minute walk. Rushing I gathered some make up and my bad and rushed out the door. I knew I could expect another beating tonight but at the moment I didn't care. I was going to have fun and no one could stop me, not even my father.

I arrived at Yuffie's house right on time and she practically dragged me into her room

"So I TOTALLY found the perfect outfit for you" She said once the door was closed. She made her way into her closet and brought out an outfit. The shirt was a low cut v neck tank top I could tell it wasn't hers because the breast area was so large. The bottoms were black cargo pants and she even had some black boots to go along with it.

"I like it!" I told her grinning.

"Go put it on!" she demanded and shoved me in her bathroom. I put on the outfit and I have to admit I looked pretty good. The tank top adhered to my curves and the cargo pants hung off my hips juussstttt so. I stepped out of the bathroom and Yuffie squeeled.

"Cloud is soooo going to drool!" she exclaimed. My face got super red and I went to grab my jacket.

"He doesn't have any interest in me Yuffie." I mumbled. She snatched my jacket away and crossed her arms.

"I'm not blind Tifa I saw the way he looked at you today. And you guys totally hit it off today." She said.

"Okay okay calm down Princess Yuffie." I told her smiling. She laughed and rummaged through her closet again she emerged with a bundle of clothes.

"I'll be right back." She told me and disappeared into the bathroom.

"What time does the party start?" I called to her.

"Ummmm…9." She replied. I nodded to myself and sat down on her bed. It was around 6:30 right now.

"What are we going to do until then?" I asked.

"Eat dinner get ready other random things." She replied and walked out of the bathroom. She looked pretty good too. She wore black short shorts and a yellow halter-top. Her hair was spiked up around her head. I had put my hair in a ponytail revealing some of my back. Yuffie whistled.

"We look sexxxy." She joked.

"Oh yeah we're gonna knock 'em dead!" I said joking along with her. she laughed and lead me into her living room.

"My parents are out…somewhere. I figured we could have some noodles." She said going into the kitchen. I followed her.

"Yeah sounds good."

She got down some bowls and turned the oven on.

"Soooo are you into Cloud?" she inquired. I blushed.

"Um…he's cute…and sweet…" I mumbled blushing even harder. She giggled and dished out the noodles.

"Well tonight we're going to get you hooked up!" She said grinning. I just shook my head and couldn't help but smile. I was glad I met Yuffie. I only knew her for less than a day but she was all ready a good friend. We ate our noodles and Yuffie looked at the clock.

"Well it's about a 30 minute drive. Zack lives out of town so we better head out" She said and grabbed her keys. I followed her out to the car. Party time.

Thereeeeeeeee we gooooo!


	5. Party Part 1

….no reviews….. :[

which means I'm really really unmotivated

seriously

I've been working on this for days

And I feel no obligation to continue. So I'm not going to. Until I get reviews.

Yuffie and I arrived at the party around 40 minutes later. Zack lived way out in the country right next to a chocobo farm. There were all ready a bunch of people there. I felt nervous and out of place but followed Yuffie anyways. She made her way inside and the house was PACKED all ready! Grabbing my hand she turned down a hall and went through a door. Surprisingly no one was in this room save the people I met earlier. Vincent, Cloud, Reno, Rude, and Aerith. She was sitting next to another guy who I assumed was Zack. Did I sense a romance…?

"Hey there! You must be the new girl Aer told me about. The name's Zack Fair, glad you could come today!" he said cheerily. I smiled at him all ready taking a liking to him.


	6. Partaaayyyy

Okay so

I realize I was being a giant asshole

I apologize

And sorry for the long wait I have been HELLA busy yo!

Cloud-Zen: yeah I'm trying to work this out myself after this chapter I'm going to try to give everyone back ground information on Tifa. I can say now that the way she is with her father is like a totally different person from the way she is once she feels comfortable. Sorry it's so confusing. :/ I'll try to do better!

Silver-FireLizard: I'm glad! And I shall! Like right now! Haha

Steffano: Most definitely. :]

Blood of the Wolf: LMAO!

I smiled at Zack shaking his hand. I could tell he was an easily likeable person.

"So, this room is the safe haven. No one comes in here but us, so if you feel too crowded just slip in here." Zack said to me.

"Okay, thanks!" I smiled at him.

"Well I better go make sure everyone is staying in line." He said walking towards the door. Aerith followed him walking with her usual grace. Reno poked Rude.

"Come on yo! I wanna party!" Reno said pulling on Rude's shirt. Rude pushed him off standing up.

"All right all right calm down." Rude replied brushing off his clothes. Reno didn't seem to care because he just grabbed Rude's shirt and dragged him out of the door.

"Tifa! I'm really glad you came!" Cloud said walking towards me. He gave me a hug and I felt myself blush a little. Yuffie giggled to herself behind me and walked over to Vincent.

"Hey there Crimson." She said sitting next to him. He glanced up and nodded in response.

"Liking the party?" she said trying to make conversation. He shrugged and she launched into another question.

"Come on, Yuffie will be at that for awhile. She's always trying to get him to talk." Cloud said chuckling.

"Okay, wanna show me around?" I asked him.

"Of course"

We left the 'safe haven' and were met with blasting music and dancing bodies. Cloud grabbed my hand and we weaved our way through the crowd into a less crowded corner.

"So, do you know how to dance?" Cloud asked with a mischievous smile dancing across his lips. I smirked. Of course I knew how to dance. My mother taught me things before- no, no sad thoughts tonight just happiness. I nodded and began dancing. I swayed my hips to the beat lifting my hands above my head. He started dancing too moving to the beat. I smiled at him and turned around. He got the message and wrapped his arms around my waist dancing. It hurt some, because of the bruises, but I ignored it. Soon the song ended and we broke apart.

"I guess you do know how to dance." He said smiling.

"I told you!" I said and stuck my tongue out. He laughed and I joined in. This party didn't seem too bad.

"Awwww that's so nice Cloud. Hanging out with the newbie."

"Go away Lightening." He said agitated. I glared at her hoping she'd get the point and leave.

"But Cloud! We have succchhhh great history!" Lightening exclaimed. I looked at Cloud confused.

"We USED to go out. But I broke up with her, for obvious reasons." Cloud explained. I giggled at his rudeness. Lightening scoffed.

"Whatever, you know you still want me." She said flipping her hair. She took her friends and left.

"And what did you ever see in her?" I asked him smiling. He chuckled shaking his head. Another song came on and we continued dancing. We danced for I don't know how long before Yuffie appeared.

"Hey Tif! We have to go my mom wants me home." She said frowning. I sulked for a moment but nodded and turned around.

"Sorry Cloud, I have to go now." I said sadly. He nodded and hugged me.

"All right then, see ya!" I smiled and nodded. Yuffie and I left and I smiled the whole way home. Screw my dad. I'll deal with him when I get there.


End file.
